When it Rains it Pours
by fanwriter2388
Summary: I know, terrible title, but fitting. This story starts immediately after the season 1 finale of The Fosters, with Callie still sitting outside. As she sits alone, a figure from the shadows walks up behind her. What will happen when the two oldest of the Foster group are in danger? Rated M for probable upcoming material.
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N: Hi there! This is my first fanfic and I wrote it in the middle of the night last night because I couldn't sleep. I then edited it this morning after my son woke up 2 hours early, so please let me know about any errors you notice and I will gladly fix them! I would love to do some work to make these chapters better, so I absolutely encourage any helpful feedback! I am publishing the first 3 chapters, which I wrote last night, and I will be working on writing/publishing more, hopefully in the near future. Also, as a note, I ship Brandon and Callie, and I ship them HARD, so if you're a Wyllie fan… well too bad I guess :-P_**

Disclaimer: I do not own "The Fosters" or the characters, but the story is an original by me :)

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It was almost one in the morning and Callie was still sitting outside on the swing. It had been a couple of hours since everyone had gone to bed, but she had too many thoughts going through her head to even make an attempt at getting some sleep.

She had been skimming through her photos, not really paying attention to them. Instead her mind was left wandering to thoughts about Brandon. She felt awful about lying to Wyatt, but what was she supposed to say? He had asked her if the adoption would change anything between them. She said no, but she could barely admit to herself that she had had a spark of hope about the situation, much less admit it to Wyatt! No, she couldn't let herself give in to the possibility of a chance with Brandon, not again. She had felt it when she thought about going into the Independent Living Program, and she let that feeling get too deep and almost couldn't come back from it. She couldn't let that happen again when it was much more likely that she would be disappointed again.

Callie hated thinking that she was settling for Wyatt. He was a great guy and certainly made her feel happy, but he just wasn't Brandon. She told herself again and again that once she could find a way to move on from Brandon that it would be possible to fall in love with Wyatt, but she found herself questioning that again after Wyatt had gone home that evening.

Wyatt had asked her to play him a song, so she did. She had played every note perfectly, but it just didn't feel right. After he left she played it again, wondering what was missing and she realized-it was missing Brandon.

Callie also found herself thinking about what happened on her way home after Jude's adoption. She had asked Lena if it would be alright to take the bus home. She knew that it was selfish to ask for time alone when her brother had just gotten adopted, and she really was genuinely happy for him, but she just needed some time to process what had happened. Lena had looked at her as if her heart my burst for her..

"It's alright," Callie had said. "Really, I'm fine, I just need some time to myself. Besides, you guys still need to go pick up that cake and everything, right? I'll walk for a bit, catch the bus, and I'll probably even beat you guys home!" She had tried to sound as upbeat as she could so that Lena wouldn't feel worried. Lena talked it over with Stef and they agreed to let Callie have some space.

While she was walking to the bus stop she thought she noticed a car that seemed to be following her, but when she looked the car had sped off and kept driving. She laughed at herself for being so paranoid, until she got home half an hour later and saw the car parked outside of their house. She ran upstairs and locked herself in the bathroom with her phone out ready to call Stef if she heard anyone in the house. After crouching in the shower for what seemed like ages she got up the courage to go and look out the window. She had opened the bathroom door and nearly had a heart attack when she heard the door opening downstairs until she heard Stef yell "We're home! Callie are you here, love?" Callie had let out a huge sigh of relief and pulled back the curtains to see that the car was gone. "I'm here!" She yelled down, hoping her voice wouldn't expose the fear she had felt.

She had brushed the incident off and ended up creating some story for herself that her dad had found out about her through the adoption discovery and came to check up on her, and that he just didn't know how to approach her. She knew that it was farfetched, crazy even, but it calmed her down enough to enjoy the celebration with Jude and the rest of the Fosters. She would let Stef and Lena know if she saw anything suspicious again.

Callie was so deep in thought that she didn't notice someone walking up behind her from the shadows.  
"It sure is a beautiful night out here," she heard as the person stepped into the light. Callie jumped at the sound of the voice and tried to calm herself down until she looked up and saw him standing over her.  
"Liam." She said in a trembling voice that came out barely a whisper.


	2. Chapter 2

"This really is a gorgeous tree" Liam said after a few moments of silence, a sadistic smile on his face. "So beautiful, in fact, that I've made a point to stop by on occasion to look at it in person. Your picture was nice, but it had an eerie feeling to it, you know? Then again, I guess that's what you do, right? You take something beautiful and you turn it into something twisted." He stopped and looked back at Callie, who gasped at his intense gaze.

"Liam, w-what do you want?" Callie asked, staying as calm as she could manage. She looked up at the house, each window dark with the exception of the kitchen light which was left on for her. Liam saw her desperation as she glanced toward the house.

"Oh, they'll all have gone to bed by now. Don't worry, it's just the two of us. Alone," Liam mocked. Callie knew he was right, but she thought of Brandon who was supposed to be coming back that night with all of his stuff from his dad's. She silently hoped that any second he would walk into the kitchen and Liam would be found.

"Liam, please!" Callie said loudly, hoping she might wake someone up. "I'm sorry for the trial and for everything that I said." A chill ran down her spine as she thought about the situation she was in right now.

"Now now, Callie," Liam said gently as he stepped closer to her. "We don't need to get loud, we're just having a nice conversation. Here, you're cold, why don't you take my jacket?" He slipped his jacket off and began to put it around her, stroking her arm as he laid the jacket on her shoulders.

"Get off of me, don't touch me, I do **not** want you to touch me!" Callie yelled as she began to move away. Liam grabbed her roughly by the wrist and pulled her back to him covering her mouth.

"What did I just say? How are we supposed to make up if we can't have some time alone to talk everything out? Now, can we please-"at the word please Liam gripped her wrist tighter, causing Callie to yelp behind his hand. "-keep quiet?" Callie looked at Liam with such fear in her eyes, but managed to nod her head lightly in agreement. Liam slowly slid his hand off of her mouth, sliding his fingers softly along her cheek and then running them through her hair and slowly moving them toward her chest, the hand on her wrist letting go and moving down her back to her hips.

"Make up? What the hell are you talking about?" She spat at him in a quiet yell as she swatted his hands away and took a small step back.

"I mean that I love you, I've always loved you, and I don't want us to fight anymore. Cal, I want you back. I know you don't really love that Wyatt guy, and I heard what happened with your adoption today. I know you could use someone to lean on now, so why don't we just put everything that's happened behind us and we can move on and be together." Callie stood staring at him in complete horror. He couldn't possibly think that she could forget everything that had happened, much less actually want to be with him. There was a time that she trusted Liam, that she thought she wanted to be with him, but after he raped her she realized that he had only led her to believe that he was a caring person when in reality she wasn't special to him at all.

"Oh really?" She snapped back. And what about Sarah? Did you love her, too? It's not-"

"Sarah was just because you left me! " He interrupted. "You left me and pretended you didn't want me anymore, what was I supposed to do? I didn't know how you really felt, how *I* really felt. I love you! Callie felt sick to her stomach, there was no way he could honestly expect her to accept this rewritten story of their past.

"It's not love! It's sick and it's wrong. YOU are wrong. You take girls who are starving for attention and you give them exactly what they are looking for so that they trust you. You prey on them, on US, and then you violate us and take away any remnants if innocence we have left! I don't want you, how could ANYONE want you? You are pathetic and disgust-"

Before she could finish, Liam grabbed her and punched her in the face so hard that she fell to the ground unconscious. He was so angry he was shaking. He breathed a few heavy breaths and then began to smile as he calmed down., terrible thoughts running through his head. He lifted Callie up by her hair, threw her over his shoulder and began walking out to his car.

Upstairs, Mariana had woken up to Callie yelling. At first she thought she was hearing things and almost laid down to go back to sleep until she heard a crash on the back patio. She ran over to the window and saw Liam as he began to walk away with an unconscious Callie hanging over him.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Short 3rd chapter, but I figure since I uploaded 3 chapters at once you guys can handle it :) There will be more to come! I will be writing as soon as I can, but I'm hoping to get some input and feedback before I publish the next chapter so that I can make improvements! Thanks again!**_

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Mariana stood in shock for a few short seconds, wondering if she was really awake and if she really saw what she knew she just saw. "Moms! She yelled as she started running toward their room. "M-moms!" She yelled again as she threw open their door and flew in toward their bed, grabbing at Lena's leg as she and Stef shot up to see what was happening.

"Callie!" She yelled as Jesus and Jude came in to see what was happening. "Liam! Callie! I-I saw! And then!"

"Slow down, Mari!" Stef urged, her voice filled with panic at the mention of Liam's name. "What did you see? What happened? Where's Callie?"

"I woke up and heard Callie yelling. I heard a crash so I went to the window and saw Liam carrying Callie away from the back yard!" Hearing this Stef shot up out if bed and grabbed for her gun from the safe. Lena grabbed Mariana to try to calm her down. "Mom," Mariana said stoically. Stef turned to look at her. "Callie was unconscious. You- you don't think she's..." Stef looked at Lena, even more panic in her eyes. "Stay with Mama" said said as she grabbed her phone and ran through the doorway, past Jude and Jesus. As she was running her phone rang and she quickly glanced down to see that it was Mike.

Lena signaled for Jude and Jesus to join her and Mariana on the bed. Jude, who had finally let what he heard sink in began to cry uncontrollably. Lena had never seen Jude cry, he always seemed so strong for such a young boy. She hugged him tight and kissed his forehead telling him that everything would be alright. Mariana and Jesus moved in closer and Lena put her arms around the three of them, trying her best to help them believe that everything would be fine when even she had no idea what was going to happen.

A moment later they heard footfalls on the stairs which sounded slow and very weak. They looked at the doorway to see Stef enter the room again.

"I-They're gone. I don't see Liam or Callie anywhere." She said trying to stay strong and keep her composure in front of her terrified family. " And Lena... There's something else... It's Brandon."


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up! I have had a ton going on and I also have a one year old who has been keeping me pretty busy lately! But, in honor of the season 2 premiere tomorrow, here's the newest chapter! I hope you enjoy and I hope you enjoy the premiere, too! I'm hoping to get the next chapter up pretty soon, I already know where it's going to go, I just have to find the time to write it! Thanks for reading :)**_

The sun was just starting to rise as the doctor came out to speak with Stef. She slid out from under Jude, who wasn't sleeping but hadn't been very responsive since he had heard what happened to Callie. Lena, who was sitting with Jesus took Stef's place and Jesus went to be with Mariana, who had been sitting across the room staring out the window.

"Your son has some pretty serious injuries," reported the doctor. "We've got him stable now, but he's in rough shape. All of his fingers in his right hand were broken, most in multiple places. His wrist is also broken and his radius and ulna-the bones in the lower arm- are severely fractured. He also has some torn muscle tissue and a pulled tendon." The doctor took a second to let Stef try to process what she had heard. Stef wasn't sure she could handle much more and felt like she was going to be sick. Again.

"In addition to the injuries to the arm," the doctor continued, "Brandon has 3 broken ribs and a collapsed lung. He had a lot of internal bleeding, which was mostly caused by his spleen, which ruptured during the attack. He also sustained a concussion so we're monitoring that." Stef had heard some of this already when the ER doctor on duty first checked in with them, but hearing everything laid out like this made her heart drop. She was having a hard time breathing, so she quickly asked the doctor when they would be able to see him, knowing if she talked to the doctor much longer she wouldn't be able to hold back her tears- she was determined to stay strong in front of her family.

"We want to keep an eye on him for a short while longer to make sure he stays stabile, then we'll be moving him to the ICU and you can see him there. I will come and get you as soon as we feel comfortable making that call."

"Thank you,"Stef replied quietly. She turned and smiled at Lena, and held her finger up signaling that she just needed a minute. She then turned and walked quickly toward the restroom. As she reached to push open the door she was already overtaken by tears and was sobbing loudly by the time the door closed after her. She held on to the sink holding herself up as her chest felt like it might collapse. Her eyes were so swollen with tears that she could barely make herself out in the mirror. She let out a quiet, long scream, slamming her fist on the sink.

After sitting with Mariana in silence for a while, Jesus moved down the last foot that the two had between them and pulled her into a hug. Mariana did not protest, she let herself fall against her brother. She felt as though she had no strength left, so she welcomed the opportunity for him to be the strength she needed.

"I... I was too late." Mariana whispered after a long silence.  
"Mariana, this is NOT your fault," Jesus replied immediately.  
"No, Jesus. I was awake. I heard something, but I was so annoyed that I was woken up that I just didn't care. 5 minutes. That's how long I was awake before I went over and looked out that window. 5 minutes earlier, I could have gotten moms before Liam took her, and she would still be here. Callie wouldn't be off, who knows where, with that freak!" Mariana admitted, feeling more guilt than she ever thought possible. She buried her head into Jesus' shoulder and began to cry again.

Jesus grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back a few inches. "Look at me," he said seriously. "This is NOT your fault. We were at our home-a place that, thanks to our two wonderful moms, has always been a place where we felt safe and where Callie should have been safe. You didn't think anything was wrong because this whole thing is unimaginable. That bastard, Liam, is the ONLY one responsible for what happened to Callie!"

"I know... It's just... What if they can't find her? What if he hurts her really bad, or worse? We're already trying to keep it together after what happened with Brandon..."  
"I-I don't know," said Jesus, as he hugged Mariana tightly and began to cry with her.


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: With The Fosters being back on the air (yay!) I want to mention that things that happen in my story May or may not parallel things that happen on the actual show. I am excited about my story but I am also excited about what the writers will be doing with the show, so I will try to cross over into the show when I can! There may be spoilers occasionally (a small one that I'm about to mention involving the first episode) so I will try to mention that! Anyway, it's a really cool feeling when some ideas you have in your head for what you're writing end up actually happening on the show. For example: Brandon having to pull himself into the car and laying on the horn.**_

Brandon woke up about an hour later with a room filled with his family. He didn't remember much at first, but as he received hugs and kisses from the group he slowly began to remember. With each hug he remembered another punch. With each kiss he remembered another kick to his stomach. It was Stef grabbing him by his left hand that made him remember his right. He looked at his hand encased in bandages and he felt sick. He remembered seeing the car door as it closed in slow motion onto his arm. He remembered lying on the ground as he heard footfalls fading away as Vico ran back to his car and the sound of his car driving away, leaving him there alone on the street.  
Brandon cringed as he remembered having to gather every bit of strength to pull himself up and into his car. He prayed each and every second that someone would see him and run over to him so that he could give in to the unconsciousness that was calling for him. With every shot of pain running down his body he thought "Please. Please! Someone!" But no one saw him. No one came running. After what felt like years he had finally gotten into the driver's seat of his car. He laid on his horn as if it were his own voice screaming out breaking the silence of the night. The last thing he remembered was a fuzzy vision of someone running toward him as he fell back in his seat, unable to do anything more before darkness overcame him.

As Brandon grabbed his mother's hand tightly he looked around the room. "Where's Callie?" He asked to no one in particular. At first no one gave an answer and everyone looked away as a feeling of overwhelming sadness filled the room. As Stef placed her other hand atop his and sat down to eye level with him, he held his breath and braced himself, knowing he may not be able to handle whatever it was he was about to be told.  
"B-Callie is missing..."Stef began. Brandon immediately felt an anger come over him that he didn't know he could feel. How could she do this again? How could she just run away again after Jude had just gotten adopted? Didn't she know that Jude needed her? That HE needed her?  
He was so angry that he wasn't prepared for what his mother said next. "She was taken, Brandon. Last night while we were sleeping." Stef got a lump in her throat and had to take a deep breath before she could continue.  
"Taken? W-What do you mean taken? Like protective services? They can't just-" Stef put her hand up to stop him. He looked around and saw that everyone had gone pale and started crying even harder. Mariana had begun sobbing and had turned away from him. It was Jude who spoke next as Stef tried to regain her ability to speak. His voice was so empty of feeling that it alone would have given everyone chills. But of course it wasn't just the voice, it was the words that came with it.  
"It was Liam," Jude said fiercely. "He came to our house last night. He came, he fought with Callie, and he took her."  
Brandon felt his heart sink. His mom tried to calm him down, but soon the machines filling his room all began to beep wildly. Stef leaned in and pressed his head against her chest and shushed him, trying to calm him down, but as his body began to shake violently under hers the nurses were flooding the room demanding that everyone get out immediately. The last thing Stef saw as she left the room was Brandon's chest launching into the air from the defibrillator.


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: Sorry, another short one that hasn't really been properly edited! :) I'm studying for the GRE and trying to keep up with my 1 year old, so I'm usually writing right before I go to bed. One day I'll go through and edit, but for now I'm just trying to get everything written and posted for you guys, so hopefully you can overlook any mistakes for now. I promise I'll either have a longer chapter or post two at once next time. Thanks for reading!**_

A few hours later the Fosters were allowed back in Brandon's room, but agreed with the doctor that until Brandon had recovered more they would only visit in pairs and that they wouldn't discuss anything that would cause more stress to Brandon. It was decided that for now Stef would sit with Brandon while he slept and Lena would take everyone else back home to shower, change, and try to regroup.  
When Stef walked into the room Brandon was staring blankly out the window. The pain he was feeling about Callie seemed far worse than the pain from his injuries, and at least for those they could give him pain medication. They had put him on a mild sedative to keep him from letting the agitation get the better of him, but it only kept his heart from beating faster, it didn't keep it from aching so intensely.  
"Mom," he said flatly, still staring out of the window, "is there any news about Callie?" He asked knowing what the answer would be, but he needed to hear it.  
"No, love," Stef said in reply. "Let's not talk about Callie right now. You should get some rest and we can talk later."  
"How could this have happened? How could I have let this happen? If I had just stayed at the house with everyone... Maybe Liam saw me leave, maybe that's what gave him-"  
"Stop." Stef said, quickly interrupting him. "You can't do that to yourself-none of us can. We can't try to figure out what would have stopped this. We can't figure this out because what Liam did was beyond comprehension. Now please, get some rest and we will talk about this later." Stef began to tuck Brandon's covers in more and pat his pillow a few times, signaling that the conversation was indeed over. Brandon begrudgingly nodded his head and laid it back, letting out a sigh of exasperation before closing his eyes.  
It was two hours before Brandon was being awoken by Lena entering the room. "Stef," she whispered cautiously but with urgency. Stef looked up with her eyebrow raised, indicating that Lena should continue. "Can I see you for a minute?" She urged as she gestured toward the hallway.  
The two stepped outside and when the door closed Lena spoke again. "Stef, I think Callie may have just been brought to the hospital."  
"You _think_?" Stef asked, her tone demanding clarification.  
"I was coming in with the kids and an ambulance had pulled in just after us. When we walked through the lobby I heard them mention a teenage Jane Doe who was the victim of an assault early this morning."  
Stef looked at Lena softly. "We don't know that's her, it could be anyone. Besides, Mike or someone from the precinct would have called and let me know if there was anything I should know about."  
No sooner than she had mentioned it Stef felt her phone begin to vibrate. When she saw that it was Mike calling she tensed before looking at Lena and answering. The look Stef gave Lena as Mike spoke told Lena that she was right.


	7. Chapter 7

**_A/N: For this chapter I would like to give a shout out to my reader *angelicedg*! I was getting antsy about a Callie POV too! Thank you for your review, I wasn't able to PM you so I posted a review comment in response but wasn't sure if you'd see it._**

**_The beginning of this chapter is a little silly, and it's meant to be! I also wasn't intending to post another chapter anywhere near this quickly, but I pulled out my phone when I got into bed, started typing this as a note and was kind of amazed when I reached my next stopping point., but I figured I would just get it posted while I had the chance. Hope this makes up for the shorter chapters I've been writing :)_**

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Callie sat staring as Robert Quinn fixed his bow tie and smoothed out his tuxedo. She looked to the front of Liam's car where he lay sprawled across the two front seats, unconscious after a swift kick shattered the driver's side window and landed directly on Liam's left cheek. Callie had just witnessed her father parachute out of an airplane, land on the hood of the car, swing himself up and over the roof and in through the window. It reminded her of a James Bond movie! Suddenly he lifted her up out of the seat and began to run.

"D-dad?" Callie questioned.

"Callie? Callie can you hear me?" She thought she heard a warbled voice calling to he in the distance, but when she looked around she saw no one else. She looked back up at her father.

"Not here, it's not safe!" He responded quickly. He grabbed a small can from inside his jacket pocket, pulled the top off, and threw it behind them as it began billowing out smoke. He ran with her for about a quarter of a mile into an old abandoned gas station. When he finally sat her down he didn't even give her time to speak.

"Callie, please. Callie?" She heard the voice in the distance again

"Hi Callie," he said as he smiled. "The name's Quinn. Robert Quinn. And I'm you're father." As he finished speaking he smiled again, this time a large sparkle came with it. As Callie sat there staring in utter confusion Robert took this as his opportunity to continue speaking.

"Now, I know you've been wondering why I've never shown up before. Well, I guess there's no hiding it now. I am a CIA agent and I've been deep undercover for the last 17 years. I've kept an eye on you growing up, but I've never been able to contact you or I would risk our lives and the lives of millions of American citizens." He paused for a moment to let Callie catch up, but strangely she seemed like she had expected this.

"Callie. I need you. Please come back to me," the distant voice pleaded. The voice gave her a bad feeling and Callie wondered if it was Liam searching for her, but she ignored it, trusting that her father would keep her safe if he returned. She was so glad he had rescued her before Liam could hurt her.

"But what about mom? Did she know? Did she know about your job?" Callie asked casually as if she heard this kind of news everyday.

"Your mom? Of course she knew. How do you think we met? She's an agent too. And sweetheart, there's more. Your mom isn't dead. We had to fake her death so she could go undercover with me."

"Callie, I'm so sorry about all of this. I should have been there. I miss hearing your voice, please come back to me." Callie was scared. She could hear the voice louder than before, but this time she kept getting the feeling that someone was grabbing her hand.

Brandon lifted Callie's hand to his mouth and kissed it. He hated seeing her lying in this hospital bed. It had been three days since Callie was brought into the hospital and she had only woken up for 2 minutes before going into shock in the emergency room. Brandon had snuck down each night from his room to visit her. He would spend the time telling her how much he loved her, telling her about how his surgery went and how his appointments went. He would tell her how beautiful she was and how he hated not being able to be with her. But mostly he begged her to come back to him. He didn't really know why. She was in a medically induced coma which the doctors said was to help her while the bleeding in her brain went down. He knew she couldn't come back yet, but he wanted to make sure she knew how to get back when it was time.

As he sat there he thought back to the look he had seen on his mother's face when she answered her phone that day. He couldn't hear with the door being closed, but he knew what it had to be about.

"B, they've found Callie," his mom had said after opening the door quickly. "Lena and I are going to go see what we can find out. Will you be alright?"

"Can I come with you? Please? I can get a wheelchair!" Branded had asked.

"You're still in no shape to be up and around. I promise you that as soon as I know anything I will come back."

A short while later it wasn't Stef who came through the door, it was Mariana and Jesus.

"What's going on?" Brandon asked. "Is Callie OK?"

"It-it's not good." Mariana spoke softly. "She hasn't regained consciousness yet. Someone found her on the side of the road next to a big rock. They don't know if she fell or if..." She gulped hard before continuing, "or if he hit her with it. They're getting scans to see how bad the damage is."

"He... He just left her on the side of the road? He just left her?" Brandon stammered as he tried to speak through his tears.

Neither of the twins said anything and they wouldn't make eye contact with Brandon. "What? There's something you're not telling me. What is it?" He asked cautiously. Jesus closed his eyes tightly while clenching his right hand into a fist and relaxing it several times. Mariana stared at the trash can on the floor. "What. Is. It?" Brandon demanded.

"We heard the doctor talking to moms," Mariana paused. "He said that he needed their permission..." She stopped unable to say the words.

"Permission for what?"

Mariana couldn't bring herself to finish so Jesus spoke up, knowing that Brandon needed to know. "Since Callie isn't conscious they needed moms' permission to give her emergency contraception. Liam, he-he raped her, Brandon."


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N: Hope you all enjoy this nice long chapter! Please, PLEASE leave a review or send me a private message with your thoughts and comments. I love reading them and would love to have more as encouragement to keep going! I also like to hear what you think so I can know if I should change direction or anything like that, so again, please please please review :) I went through and started editing my old chapters, and I'll go through and edit this one as well, but for now I want to get it posted for everyone to read before I go to bed! :)**_

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Brandon continued to visit Callie in the middle of the night for the last few days of his stay at the hospital. He was always gentle with her and spoke calmly in the off chance that she could hear him or pick up on his energy. He knew what Liam had done and every time he thought about it he grew angry, but he couldn't let Callie sense that. He didn't know exactly how comas worked—medically induced or otherwise—but the doctors said that it helped to talk to the patient and bring good energy into the room for them, so Brandon vowed to make that his goal any time he visited.

The nurses all saw Brandon each night. The first night a nurse tried to stop him from leaving his room, telling him that he was still not cleared to be up walking around and that it really wasn't the time to be visiting other rooms. Brandon had used his shy charm to talk her into letting him go, but she insisted he at least let her take him down in a wheelchair. That first night when the nurse saw Brandon enter Callie's room, and the look that he gave her, she knew this was where he needed to be. From that night on she didn't question his visits, only asked if he was feeling well enough to make the trip himself or if he needed help. The story about Brandon and Callie had spread throughout the unit like wildfire.

"Nora, have you seen that boy who comes down here every night to visit her?" one nurse asked the desk technician as she grabbed Callie's file from the stack Nora was working on.

"Yes! He's so sweet! He brought some flowers down for her the other night and when I mentioned how beautiful they were he took one out and handed it to me. Isn't that adorable?" The other replied, clearly excited by the current topic for their gossip. "If he were just a few years older, and not already clearly in love with that girl, I might have asked him out right then!" she said giggling.

"Wait, in love? I thought he was her brother?" said a male nurse who had been filling out paperwork a few feet away from the two. The two women sighed simultaneously, slightly annoyed by his comment.

"FOSTER brother, Marc," said Nora. "And clearly they are in love. You can just tell by the way he looks at her. It's like every bruise and broken bone he has doesn't matter the second he walks through that door. And we can tell she feels the same. Cassie saw her cheeks finally get some color one night just from having him there, right Cass?"

"Absolutely!" Cassie confirmed. "I had gone in to check on her right before the end of my shift a few nights ago to check her stats and he was in sitting with her, holding her hand and telling her some story about when he was a kid. I'm telling you she looked better than I've seen her look since she's been here—and good for her, too!" she added, signaling her approval of the situation.

Marc squealed mockingly as Cassie finished, holding his hands over his heart and saying, "OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH! Well it just MUST be true love!" Cassie smacked his arm while laughing at his impression of herself and Nora.

* * *

Two days later Brandon was back home from the hospital. When he asked to go visit Callie with the rest of the family the following day Stef said that she thought he should stay home and get some rest, unaware that he had been spending his nights visiting Callie while he was at the hospital. While they were gone Brandon walked outside to the back yard. He sat on the bench and thought about the last time he had seen Callie awake.

Callie was playing her guitar and they had talked about playing together when he got back from his dad's that night. Brandon had wanted to show her the piece he had finally perfected. He thought about the music room where he first played it for her, saying that it was still missing something. Callie had been the inspiration behind the finished tune, and he practiced it over and over so that it would be perfect when he was finally able to play it for her again. Now with the injuries to his hand he worried that he would never be able to play it for her the way that it was meant to be played. He knew that if she could just hear him play the song that he wouldn't have to say anything, she would know what was in his heart—know how he felt about her even when he knew he shouldn't feel that way.

Brandon looked up to see that there was a new flower pot sitting by him. Mariana had told him about that night, about what she heard and saw before running to get their moms. He knew that the old pot was broken when Callie was attacked, and figured that Lena must have gone out and bought a new one to make sure that nothing was out of place when Callie finally came home. He was glad that she did, Callie didn't need anything else reminding her about what happened.

He placed his hand next to him, over the spot on the bench where Callie had been sitting when he saw her last. He closed his eyes hard, thinking about how he wanted to hold her so badly that night. He wanted to tell her he loved her and that he wouldn't stop loving her no matter what ended up happening with her dad or with the adoption. He had started walking away and nearly talked himself into turning around to go back and be with her when he saw Wyatt making his way out. He cursed at himself for not having the courage to tell her how he was feeling. If he had, she would still be here and he wouldn't have encountered Vico that night. He blamed everything that had happened on his own cowardice. He laid down on the bench and fell asleep feeling more hatred toward himself than he had ever felt toward anyone; anyone but Liam, that is.

* * *

A week later Brandon was back at the hospital for his first surgery on his hand. He would only be staying one night, but he looked forward to the time that he would be able to spend alone with Callie. Stef had finally let him come with them to visit two days before, but it wasn't the same. He couldn't sit there with her and hold her hand like he had during his nightly visits. Instead he had to watch as Stef and Lena took on that role, his hand tingling like it knew it was meant to be wrapped around hers.

The day before Brandon came in for his surgery the doctors had talked about trying to take Callie out of the coma. He hoped that she would be awake for the night that he was at the hospital so that they could talk without everyone else around. But when they ran her scans in the morning they decided that it was still too risky and decided to wait another week to give her more time to heal.

When Brandon woke up from the anesthetic from his surgery it was already 7:00. A doctor came in to check on him, had him eat some dinner to help him regain his strength, and asked questions about pain levels and whether or not there was any tingling or numbness. Brandon knew not to expect too much from this surgery—after all, he had many more to go—but he was still disappointed when he couldn't feel his fingers any more than he could the day before.

It was 9:00 by the time he was able to get out of bed and make his journey to Callie's room, but as he turned out of his room he nearly ran into a male nurse who had been coming in to check on him.

"Excuse me, are you going somewhere?" Marc asked as he looked down at Brandon, knowing full well where Brandon intended to go.

"Sorry, I was just going to go visit a, um, friend—her name is Callie Jacob, she's in room—" Brandon started to explain before Marc cut him off.

"I know where she is, and I know you like going down to visit her overnight when you're here in the hospital, but you're under my care while you're here tonight and I will not let me patients, who just got out of surgery, roam around the halls unattended. You should be in bed." Marc asserted, determined to not allow Brandon to leave his room, no matter how "romantic" the others thought this whole situation was.

Brandon frowned. He _needed_ to see Callie. To touch her and tell her how much he loved her and how much he missed her. "Please" Brandon started, "I have to go down there. I know you don't understand, and I know that you have rules to follow, but I can't bear the thought of leaving her down there by herself when I am so close to her. She needs to know that I am here for her."

"That's very sweet," the nurse replied impatiently, "but rules are rules."

"Screw the rules!" Brandon blurted out. "Rules are what put Callie in that room. I wasn't allowed to love her, I wasn't allowed to be with her because of the damn rules, and now look where she is," Brandon was crying as he thought about that night again. "I wasn't there for her, I left because it was too hard to be near her, and while I was gone someone came and attacked her. He RAPED her, he stole her innocence AGAIN and I wasn't there! I wasn't there! I wasn't there…" Brandon was shaking now. He didn't mean for any of that to come out, but all of his guilt had overcome him.

Marc stood there, unable to speak for a moment. His eyes had gotten red and misty as he took in Brandon's words. Brandon's eyes were so swollen that he couldn't see that Marc's expression had changed, so he was preparing to be told that he needed to go back into his room. Instead, Marc pulled over a nearby wheelchair, grabbed Brandon by the shoulders and guided him into the chair before going behind him and pushing him toward Callie's room without saying a word.

When they arrived outside of Callie's door Marc stopped the wheelchair and walked around to stand in front of Brandon. He looked down at him seriously and then got closer to his face. "You go in there," he began strongly, "and be with her for as long as you need to." He stood up and began to walk away but turned back after a couple of steps. "And tell her you love her. Tell her you love her every chance you get, and don't stop until she tells you she loves you back." With that, he turned and continued walking, ignoring Nora as she smiled at him knowingly.


	9. Chapter 9

**_A/N: Hello again everyone! So sorry it took so long to get this chapter out! I FINALLY took the GRE and I am so glad that it is done and out of the way! I'm also happy to report that I got 12 points higher than my goal! :-D Yay!_**

**_Anyway, hopefully now I'll have some more time to work on writing since I wasn't able to for a while there. Please remember to review, I'd love to see where you guys think the story should go! I was finally arable to watch the 2 most recent episode, but the story isn't caught up to that timeline yet anyway and I won't know until I'm writing it what exactly I want to have overlapping and what I don't (this is where those wonderful helpful reviews with your guys' preferences come in!) I am going to be doing some time jumps probably in the next couple of chapters, so be ready for that :) _**

**_This chapter is going to be a short one because I just want it to posted so you guys have it, but I will be updating soon, I promise!_**

The Fosters were so excited to finally get to visit Callie when she woke up. She had been in a coma for 10 days when the doctors decided it was safe to begin weaning her off of the drugs, and it took another 3 days before she seemed to be waking up, but they had gotten a call first thing in the morning saying that it looked like she would be awake that day. Lena told everyone to grab breakfast and they all snagged a piece of fruit or some toast. Knowing that no one was willing to take the time to sit down and eat before they went, she smiled at Stef and let out a relieved sigh. "Alright then, let's go," she said, mirroring the excitement and nervousness that the rest of the group was feeling as well.

"We should have just a couple of people in there at a time," said the doctor on Callie's case who met them as they arrived in the waiting area. "It's very common for patients coming out of a coma to be very scared and very confused, so do whatever you can to keep her calm. She may not be able to speak and we're not sure if she'll be able to understand just yet, either. She hasn't woken up entirely, but she is starting to stir around a little and her heart rate is right where we want it to be, so it should be any time now. We have the lights dimmed in her room with the curtains drawn to help reduce the stimulation for when she first wakes up. Do you have any questions?" The doctor paused to look around at the group. No one knew how to act, they were excited to see Callie and know that she was OK, but nervous about what to say when they got in there. It was Brandon who spoke up, hoping that the doctor would answer in the negative to what he figured they were all wondering.

"Will she remember what happened? About... About the attack?" Everyone looked at Brandon, thankful that he could find the nerve to bring up the subject, and then looked at the doctor, reluctant to hear the answer.

"I can't say for certain," he began, knowing it was not the answer they zwanted to hear. "Generally with an injury like this the memory from shortly before the incident remains clouded. She may remember, but it is more likely that she won't, at least not right away-it might take a few weeks or a few months. There is some chance she may never remember, but I can't say for certain." He finished, paused again to see if there would be any more questions, but everyone just looked at the ground except for Stef and Lena who looked at each other as if having a conversation in their heads about how to deal with this. The doctor asked if they knew who would be going in to Callie's room and it was decided that Lena and Jude would go in first. Brandon desperately wanted to be there when Callie woke up, but he knew that with only 2 being allowed in it just wouldn't be possible. He would have to wait.

The doctor opened the door for Jude and Lena and then walked with them to Callie's room. They had taken the tube out of Callie's throat, but still had an oxygen mask covering her mouth and nose. Jude grabbed Callie's hand and started talking to her, hoping his voice would help her wake up and feel safe. Callie had always been the strong one between the two of them, even after what happened with Liam when they lived with the Olmsteads. After everything they'd been through he'd grown up thinking that Callie was all but invincible.

They saw occasional movement of her eyelids and a shift of her head here and there, but it was about half an hour later that Jude felt Callie's fingers squeeze lightly against his hand. He looked at Lena with excitement and she jumped out of her chair. Jude began speaking as Lena ran to the door to call for a doctor, barely able to speak through her tears of happiness.

"Callie," Jude spoke calmly and quietly. " Callie it's me, can you hear me? It's Jude. I'm here."

"Callie, we're here sweetheart," Lena added. "We're here for you, we've got you, you're alright."

Finally, just as the doctor entered the room, they saw Callie's eyes slowly begin to open. The doctor stepped up next to Jude and looked down at Callie smiling. "There are those beautiful eyes. We've all been anxious to see them!" He spoke encouragingly and quickly to try to keep her calm. They could see from her eyes that she was afraid, but she seemed to weak to do anything.

"Callie, your family is here with you, you don't need to worry. You've had an accident but I need you not to worry, you're in good hands. Callie, I need to know if you can hear me. Can you please blink twice for me if you can hear me?" The doctor paused, not getting a reaction. "Callie, my name is Doctor Paul, I am here to help you. You've been in an accident, but you're going to be just fine. I need to know if you can hear me. Callie, can you please blink twice if you can hear me?" He paused again, Lena and Jude now wearing a mutual nervous expression. They looked at Callie and after a few seconds they saw it: two slow but deliberate blinks. Lena and Jude both let out a sigh of relief and excitement as they leaned down gently to give her a hug. As they sat back up they could see a weak but beautiful smile on her face.

While Jude sat there looking at her he looked beyond the cuts and the bruises and the bandages. He ignored the machines and their beeping and whatever the doctor was saying. In that moment, seeing Callie smile... that smile told Jude he was wrong: Callie WAS invincible.


End file.
